"O" is for Osteospermum

Photographing what's in flower for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day each month can be a time-consuming process, especially in spring.  I started taking shots for the March 15th post this week.  As lumping all my photos into a single post each month means giving short shrift to many that deserve closer attention, I thought I'd carve out one entire group for another post focusing on a particular genus, in this case Osteospermum.  Although I hadn't planned to put together another post like this so soon after 'A is for Agave', any discussion of Osteospermum is really all about flowers so it seemed well-timed.

Osteospermum are commonly called African daisies.  It's trye they're native to parts of southern and eastern Africa and they have a daisy-type form but that description is confusing as the same common name is applied to a host of other flowering plants like Arctotis, Gazania and Gerbera.  They used to be part of the genus Dimorphotheca but that genus is now confined to annual varieties, while perennial varieties are classified as Osteospermum.  In my garden, Osteospermum are short-lived perennials and flower best during our cooler seasons.  They're at their very best in spring.  Many self-seed.  In recent years, growers have introduced a variety of double-petaled forms and new colors, which has made the genus more interesting.

Many of the plants shown here in my back garden, particularly the single-petaled forms, are self sown

This is the same area, shown from a different direction

This is the dirt path between that border and the hedge than runs the full length of my back garden.  The path is used only by the gardener who trims our hedges, the coyotes, and me.  I didn't plant any of these Osteospermum.  Even the double-petaled variety in this area planted itself.

The varieties included in this area are:
Top row - the single-petaled species and my favorite, O. '4D Silver', which I'm no longer able to find
Middle - O. '4D Dark Violet Ice'
Bottom - the original O. '4D Violet Ice'

Another area on the north side of the house is also populated by a mix of Osteospermum, many self-seeded.

Some of this bed is in partial shade but the Osteospermum still thrive

I'm not sure how the mix shown in the closeup on the right came together.  I remember planting O. '4D Violet Ice' there a few years ago but not the '4D Purple' variety or the single-petaled pink variety.

Other varieties are peppered throughout my garden.  Here's a closer look at some of them.

The plant on the lower right is O. 'Berry White'.  The plant shown on the left and in closeup on the upper right is similar in color but its outer petals are white rather than pale pink and the inner petals more closely resemble O. '4D Violet Ice'.  I'm wondering if it's a self-sown mutant.  O. 'Berry White' was planted 10-12 feet from where the other plant appeared.

This is O. '4D Pink'.  When originally planted last year, the inner petals were more blue than pink.  I tripped across more Osteospermum labeled '4D Pink' at a local garden center yesterday and found those were also bluer in color. 

This is a photo of O. '4D Pink' taken in March 2022.  It seems it doesn't hold its form from one year to the next, which is too bad.

I purchased O. '4D White' earlier this year but can't say I love it

I've had a hard time hanging on to the yellow and orange varieties in my garden.  The one on the left is called 'Double Moonglow'.  The one on the upper right is 'Blue Eyes' - only this one, sporting 2 flowers, is left among the 5 or 6 I originally planted.  The orange one on the bottom right is of the last 'Serenity Bronze' I planted years ago but the others may have been overtaken by nearby succulents.

I noticed these in a neighbor's garden yesterday.  Unlike me, they have no problem growing 'Blue Eyes'.

These single-petaled purple and pink varieties are self-sown remnants of plants I grew years ago.  I believe the pink variety on the right is the progeny of a pink "spoon-petaled" type I once grew in the same general area.

I still have a few O. 'Purple Spoon' that have retained their characteristic petal shape as shown here

Although these plants are commonly available in garden centers in my area, I wish they were sold as plug plants rather than in four to six inch pots in full bloom and badly root-bound.  I think they'd develop better root systems and do better in the long run.  They perform best for me when periodically deadheaded.  I see few flowers from them during the summer months but, if they don't burn out due to a combination of extreme heat and overly dry soil, they return reliably once the temperatures decline in the fall.  I inevitably lose some but they're a worthwhile investment in a climate like mine.  In colder climates, I suspect they should be treated as annuals unless you have someplace to overwinter them.

Best wishes for a safe and comfortable weekend.  There's a ninety percent chance of rain here on Friday and another good chance of rain again between Monday and Wednesday next week.  In my area, that's a good thing but it could be a big problem in California's mountain areas, where the warmer rain from this system may melt the snow still trapping people living in some of those areas, causing flooding on top of the miseries they've already experienced.  These extreme weather fluctuations can be a boon or a plague.

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party